"just living" :)

We have finally reached the point of "just living" in the house.  We have no houseguests, and no major projects going on.

Well, besides the fence.  It's all enclosed so the dog can't get out but there is only one side of the shadow box up.  We may get to putting the other side up this weekend.  My husband even cut some of the arches and it looks really great.  Still a few more weeks of work with it but the main part is done.

I don't plan on painting anything else for a while.  We still need to figure out how we are going to do my office (formal living) and the man loft needs some TLC but those things are not a priority right now and won't be for a while.

 It is really hard to get an accurate picture of the coloring with my phone.  But the walls are such a beautiful blue green.  The kitchen just makes me happy every time I walk in there.  Oh and about the "divine white" paint that is the builder standard...I was concerned I would hate it on the ceilings once I painted but it actually looks much softer than a crisp white would so it really isn't even an issue.  I still have lots of it to cover, but the nice thing is since it's on the ceiling, if I decide to leave it anywhere, it doesn't look bad (like inside the windows, like we did in the morning room).

The morning room color is 2 shades darker than the kitchen.  I really really loved it until I put that rug in there and now I keep second guessing myself...but I'm not in the mood to paint it again so it's staying for now.  I do kinda wish I would have just painted it the same color as the kitchen, or went with the pewter gray that we did in the living room.  But again...no energy to re-do it considering it required a very tall ladder!

Here's a better look at it.  The windows in the morning room really throw off the camera when trying to take a picture from the other way.

The living room is Benjamin Moore "revere pewter".  It's a really pretty warm gray and I have found it changes in the light.  I want this as my base color in the house.  It just works with anything.  Also I have had a lot of comments regarding my rugs, I got them at www.rugsusa.com and I did a post about them HERE.  I ended up moving the navy one to the morning room because it was too big and didn't fit right in my living room.  I like it better there, and I love this gray one in my living room but I must say every time I turn around there is a pulled loop.  I'm not sure if it's my dog's nails that are causing it...but I'm trimming loops left and right.  We'll see how long this one lasts...but not a bad price for an 8x10 rug, I think I scored it for $177. 

I mounted the curtains at almost the ceiling, love it.  The curtains are a sheer white, I thought it would provide just a smidge of privacy at night but no, it doesn't.  Even when closed you can see right through it from the outside.  It doesn't really matter considering I have opted not to do window treatments in the morning room, and we don't really have anyone behind us anyway.  I really like how they add to the room though.

My hubs had some leftover MDF from the entertainment center and made this for behind the front door.  Another Pinterest project :)  I am excited to paint this area or do bead board or something...just not sure so I've got to think about it.  We will do this area when we do the formal living...when we have more time and money :)

A look at the fence.  Only the gate is full shadowboxed right now (middle).  The house up on the hill behind us is a Naples.  I'm kinda happy they didn't do those extra morning room windows because we walked through the house last night and you can't really even see into our yard from their house because of the way it's angled.  They are super sweet people, I just like my privacy :)

He did the arches all the way down the side.  Since the arches are community standard per the HOA, our fence stands about 5'10" at the top of the arch so it's not a true 6".  While I would have loved to keep it straight, I think it has a pretty look to it.  We have to stain it at some point too, and while that will be a fun job, the color they selected for the community really does help the fence to "disappear" and become part of the surrounding areas and less of an eyesore.  

The color is called Sherwin Williams "Belvedere Tan"

The covenants say we have to have it stained within 90 days but I have talked to people who have gone 6 months or longer before getting a letter.  We definitely want to make sure the fence has time to dry. 

Oh, we also got our first electric bill.  18 days for $66.  I am not real sure that's a great deal?  I'm guessing our house will be around $100 per month for 2100 sq ft...but then again maybe that is a good deal.  I think it will go down in the winter since we will be using gas more...but I've never used gas before so I really don't know.  I did send in my energy star certificate to qualify for a lower rate...and we have been more conscious to turn off lights and such.  I guess we also had houseguests for 2 weeks so that was more people.  I guess next month will be a more accurate depiction.

Fence almost complete

We have been working tirelessly.   We are 3 weeks in and have yet to "just live" here but we have also had 2 weeks of houseguests.   Next week is our first real week living a normal life.  I'm looking forward to some normalcy!

We had our PM come in to address the 30 day items.   Nothing major.   Our 30 day is next Friday!  Crazy!

The kitchen, morning room and living room are painted.   Taking a break from that for a while.   It looks beautiful but now I need to touch up the baseboards and ceilings and that's annoying.  So I'm not allowing myself to do any more rooms until those are complete.

The fence is looking good.   My husband had to work more than normal this week so we didn't get it completely done but one side of the shadow box is complete.   My hubs and I are going to work on the other side in the coming weeks to let the finances recover a bit :)  it will then need to be cut into an arched top and stained a gray color as per the HOA but we are going to let the fence dry out for a few months first.

Still just absolutely tickled to be here, I just love our house.

What I do not love is loving in an construction zone!  The house behind me is going up as well as 2 over from me, and across the street and down a few.   Today I almost couldn't get out of my driveway because there were so many cars!  They are also staking out a few more and of course they are all the ones around me which is great in about 3 months but a big LOUD pain in the meantime.

I'll try to take some pics of the paint but every time I remember its dark and they aren't coming out like they look in real life.   So far though, my favorite is Benjamin Moore revere pewter which is in my living room.

Kitchen painted

Sherwin williams "rainwashed".  I love it!

More work

Finally got Internet installed on Friday but have had back to back house guests and no time to sit down and chill out! 

My In laws are here and we are putting up our fence.  Also going to paint the kitchen, morning room, and family room.   If enough is left then also the formal living.   Exciting!

The leak was fixed for good. We sent over our list for the 30 day.   Mainly small things but our coach light needs to be resealed, one Listello tile in the bathroom is sunken in, scratches on the floor, paint touch up and caulk in a few places.

One thing that's annoying me right now is in our guest bathroom, you cannot fully open the drawers in the cabinet unless you close the door.   The door opens right up to the drawers so every night in getting my son ready for bed and the drawers hit the door while I'm trying to get his toothbrush out.   I guess it's not that big of a deal but it is a design flaw in my opinion.  Anyone else notice this in your guest bathroom?

Decorated!

Here are some pics!  Things we still need: built in desk in the formal living, man loft decor, fence, paint (will probably wait until after 10 month inspection), bathroom cabinet Hardware, guest bedroom furniture/bed, random things here and there, but overall it's done!!  And after only 10 days!  Is nice not having a mortgage payment until oct 1.  Really gives some time and money to do a couple projects!  My hubs built the entertainment center over the weekend!

The leak

The leak is back.   They already have come out twice to fix it, and the second time they redid all the flashing and shingles on the morning room and it still leaked. They are coming back out tomorrow morning to see what's going on.

Getting Internet here has been a real pain.   We previously had charter and they have 30mbps for $29.95.  Well they hadn't set up yet on my street.   The only choice was AT&T for 12mbps at $39 or $49.  Whatever it was it was slower and more expensive.   Well I go to school full time online so I need Internet like nobody's business so I set up with AT&T on July 31 and my install date was Aug 28!  Almost a month with no Internet???

I called them back and they had a cancellation for Aug 13 so I took it.   But was calling charter every single day and putting my address in on their website constantly.   Finally yesterday I called and they said service had just been set up that day and I was able to get it installed on Friday.   Whew!  5 more days.   I'm dying without it!!  And my homework is piling up!

I guess they wouldn't set up service out here until several houses had been built.   #6 is going up now but there are 19 lots on our street.   It's definitely going to get irritating with all the noise and cars and loud music they play while working but I'm thankful that we really have the cul de sac to ourselves right now :)

The neighborhood is wonderful.   We have met several neighbors and several stalkers lol that are checking out their lots as they await construction.

Other than the leak, I am more than satisfied with the quality of my home.   I feel that my PM did a top notch job.  The only issue I have noticed is our hardwoods have some scratches and nicks and even though they are engineered, they are still somewhat delicate and we will need to keep some stain on hand to touch up those areas.   There is a big scratch by our slider that they tried to touch up but the didn't just get the stain in the crack, its all around it. Not sure if it's that big of a deal to me yet to have them replace those boards as it seems like we will be touching up a lot ourselves.   I guess it's just more obvious with a dark wood.

One thing I love is the endless hot water and even more than that is the A/C vent on the ceiling that perfectly blows cold air on my face while I'm in a hot shower!  It's seriously awesome. One of my favorite things.   It's the small things folks, lol.

I can't wait to get to use my fireplace but for now we are just enjoying summer and my hubs is currently building me a built in entertainment system so I will definitely post pics of that when he's done!

Looking a little better

Things are coming along.  I switched the rugs and furniture around a bit and like it better.   Hoping the hubs is able to build our entertainment center this weekend.   The family room set up has been difficult as I knew it would because of the little wall the tv is on but I think we finally have it the way we want it. Our room is pretty much done.   I ordered curtains online last night. If you are looking for 95" or 108", try JCPenney's website.   Our Windows are all 84" from the ground but once you put a rod up right above the Window the curtains are about 2"from the ground.   Strange.   So I'm going with the longer sizes and mounting the rod almost at the ceiling.   I think it will look nice.
Hubs did an awesome job with the cabinet Hardware.   We need to pick something for the bathrooms too.  Probably something a little more low profile.

That's all for now!

Some pics

Still total chaos over here but here are a few pics.

The lot behind us began grading so that's been some fun noise to listen to but hey I guess that's what we signed up for.   And the 3 lots around me are all sold so is gonna be happening for a while.   Not looking forward to the 587 cars that always seemed to be parked everywhere when the workers are here but as long as they keep the street clear and nail free I can deal with it.

Love love love the morning room.   This house would be nothing without it.   A lot of recent houses haven't selected it including the lot next door.   I guess it depends on your floorplan but because we don't have basements here, that extra space was essential to us.   It's just so bright and beautiful in there (minus the heavy equipment behind us lol)

My kitchen is coming along.   My handy hubs is putting in my cabinet Hardware which was a priority because some of our cabinets are very hard to open because they are so snug.   The hardware is from ikea and I think it really gives it a modern look! Love!

My family room is coming along too, just need a few end tables and a lamp.   Oh and an entertainment center.   We have a small wall across from the couch and my husband is going to do a built in.   Add it to the list!

Oh and there's a pic of my formal living/office just so you can see how "not together" this place really is lol.  The whole upstairs is boxes or piles of stuff so I'm not even close to being ready to post a pic of that :) can't wait to check in and see how all of your houses are coming along!

Oh and my roof leaked again. Rogers are here this morning which is making it a challenge to get dressed since we have yet to put curtains up in our bedroom lol!!

The drama

Moving is hard work and while we have made significant progress, we still have a ways to go.  

Wanted to post about the drama that happened around closing before I forgot.

We had issues with the appraisal not listing us on a private road and this was threatening to make us close late.  Since we were already scheduled to close on a Friday, it would have pushed us to Monday which would not work with my husband's schedule at all.

We were told if it did not all come together by 3pm Thursday it was not going to happen.

2:30 PM after several back and forth calls to the appraiser (I even called her to help her understand our dilemma and she got it done!) I got the call that we were cleared to close.   Whew!

Friday morning and we are half packed and ready to go, as we are driving to the house to drop off the rental truck, I get a call from my lender saying we needed to bring $147 certified funds to closing.  Say what?  We were supposed to be getting over $3k back!!!  We bank with an online bank and I tell him is impossible to get a certified check so he gives a lender credit to cover it.

We get to the closing table resolved to not let anything ruin this day and she clarifies what happened.   The taxes were overestimated by a lot so after closing we just need to call and have it adjusted or something to that affect.   We will get the overage back from our escrow account.

Whew.

We verify our rate of 3.375% but because the taxes are overestimated or payment is higher.  Should be ready enough to deal with in a few weeks when we are settled.  First payment isn't due until Oct 1.

She sends everything off and goes to get our keys.   We sit impatiently waiting to get out of there and get unpacking... well wouldn't you know our keys aren't there???

And all of RH is at a company picnic??

So off we go to the corporate office where one person happened to put our keys aside.   Just one extra annoying stop. 

After that we were home free and stopped by the HOA to grab our pool pass and gate clickers.  

All in all a good experience but it just felt so frustrating that our keys weren't there after the mess that happened the day before.

So tired

Moving is hard but moving with a 3 year old is way harder.   We haven't even opened one box that was from storage.   So far we have a lot in the house but it was all new stuff that we were excited to open, haha.

2 lots sold on our street this week so that's exciting.  Plus the Rome that had been sitting vacant.   Los of new neighbors will be on our street soon.

My In laws are coming Friday and staying a week so hopefully we will get a lot of projects done while they are here.   Especially the fence.   And maybe a few built ins.  I want them to build me an entertainment system on the wall and a 2 person desk.   We will see how much we get done.

We bought a lawn mower today and took turns mowing the lawn.   It was fun!

All in all we are thrilled with the quality of our home but we are starting to see things that need to be addressed at our 30 day... mainly some scratches in our hardwoods that it looks like they tried to fix but it's messy.

We are so very happy with our home!!  It really was worth all the heartache so if you are still waiting for yours to be finished, trust me, you won't regret it!!

Morning room

Hey all!!  Been busy moving and decorating but here is a sneak peek.   So far it's the only room that is presentable.   I love it!  Hope you all are doing well and I look forward to catching up with you all soon.   Internet won't be hooked up here at the house until Wednesday.

We closed!!!

Just a quick post to say we just closed!

Drama up until the very end but we are done.   Will post later when I have more time!

I promise I won't disappear!!

Tomorrow....

We are closing!!!

Crying on the phone to my lender seemed to help him pull some strings lol.

It's looking like we are signing or life away at 12:30!!

Moving truck is being loaded right now and we are going to Park the truck at the house until closing and then get right to moving in!!!

stressin' to the max

I am not sure who is to blame here.  They are still waiting on the updated appraisal, which in turn has to update our loan documents because having a vented fireplace is apparently THAT big of a deal.  We are supposed to pick up the Uhaul at 4...I was told I would have an answer by then if it's actually going to happen tomorrow.

This may be the fault of my lender and I even said "you guys have had more than 45 days to do this loan...how is this happening???"

Once the appraisal is in and updated, we will have an approval within 20-30 min of that but that all needs to happen by no later than probably 3 or 4 pm to ensure we can close.

I started crying on the phone to my lender.  He said he was doing all he could do and they were working to try and get it done.

I know a few days late isn't much in the grand scheme of things...but considering we moved our family down to a new area several states away with no family and friends around, and lived in less than ideal conditions for 4.5 months (2 months delay thanks to the VA and RH), it is just so so so so upsetting to think this could be delayed any longer over a paperwork situation.

Sad face.

Will update when I get the official "yes" or "no".